"Good morning!" Nami mused when she noticed Allen awoke.
Allen stretched and let out a yawn. "Morning? Already?" he moaned. He did not get any sleep last night. All he could think about was Eevee's aggression problem.
Nami was already fully dressed, wearing a pink shirt and a blue jean skirt. Her hair was neatly tied in cute pigtails by two pink ribbons. She was cooking some toast and eggs over a bonfire. The meal smelled delicious. Allen hoped they were almost done.
Damien slept in his Poke-tent: a small tent he planned on letting his Pokémon sleep in but decided to sleep in it himself. The pint sized tent suddenly wormed violently as Damien forced himself out of the small opening.
Sporting cute, puppy dog pajamas, Damien sleepily approached Nami near the bonfire, attracted by the smell of scramble eggs. "Mm, that smells heavenly," he said, "Did you cook some for us?"
"Of course," Nami smiled, "I cooked enough for all of us."
Allen slipped out of his sleeping bag and joined his friends at the fire. "Thanks, Nami. We only packed apples and berries and stuff; no hot meals."
"Yea, thanks," Damien agreed. He suddenly became crossed. "I wish I packed an extra tent; that dinky thing isn't comfortable. If only Eevee wasn't so destructive…It mowed right through my good tent."
Allen was about to say something in Eevee's defense, but Nami spoke first. "Why do you refer to Pokémon as 'it'? They have genders ya know."
"I know but—" Damien trailed off, "…How do you tell?"
"Well, you could examine your Pokémon to know," Nami said slowly, a little embarrassed by her own words. Allen and Damien shared an uneasy glance at each other. "Or," Nami added quickly, pulling out a pokedex from her pocket, "you could just analyze them with a pokedex; it tells you all about your Pokémon's attributes."
Without warning, Nami pointed her pokedex at Damien's poke-tent. It picked up Totodile's ball and started analyzing with a series of beeps. "Totodile is a boy," she announced after reading the pokedex data.
"I figured," Damien commented.
"And Eevee is also a dude," She said after scanning Allen's backpack.
"Really?" Damien wondered, "I always picked up a feminine vibe from him."
Damien: Two
Allen: Treecko!
"So where are you two heading?" Nami asked the boys as they ate around the dying fire.
"We are going to Hamtero Town," Damien answered with a full mouth of scrambled eggs. He swallowed then added, "Allen here is trying to collect eight badges to enter this year's Pokémon league."
"Yup," agreed Allen, "And the badge from Hamtero will be my first"
"Wow, so you're collecting badges," said Nami. "Traveling the world, meeting interesting people," Nami became awed by her own words, "Sounds exciting!"
"Well, we just started our journey yesterday," explained Damien, "The only exciting thing that happened so far was you saving us from those crazed Hoothoot." He crossed his arms and made a disgusted face. "Stupid Hoothoot; I didn't really want one anyway."
"You guys should be more careful," said Nami with a serious tone. "You shouldn't take on a whole flock of Pokémon when you only have two Pokémon between you guys."
"Ha," Damien scoffed, "You're right, but it was all Eevee's fault."
"He has fighting spirit," Allen defended his Pokémon, "Eevee would win easily in the gym battle coming up."
"But you know what?" Damien asked.
"What?" Allen and Nami said in union, leaning forward toward Damien in anticipation.
"It takes more than one strong Pokémon to win against Hamtero's gym leader, Mannie. He only battles in three on three set battles. You only have Eevee; ya down two Pokémon."
"What? I need two more Pokémon before we reach Hamtero?" Allen asked in disbelief. "Hamtero is just beyond the forest."
"Yup, and you only had one real battle so far," Damien went on, "I doubt you have the experience to battle a gym leader anyway, but it's okay; Hamtero gym is an expert's gym. We could just skip that gym, and you could challenge the next one at Tifa." Damien closed his eyes and shook his index finger at Allen, mimicking a disapproving teacher. "You need more training."
"How do you know all this?" Allen queried, a bit insulted.
Damien quickly reached into his nearby backpack and revealed a Hamtero gym pamphlet. "I found this at a bench in the park one night."
"Ooh, let me see," Nami said excitedly. Damien handed her the pamphlet, and she started to read about the gym's highlights.
"Why didn't you tell me about this stuff sooner, Damien?" Allen demanded to know.
"Sorry," Damien apologized, "I just remembered now. Besides, there are many other gyms to gain badges from; you don't need Hamtero."
"No way!" Allen said as he jumped to his feet. His outburst took Nami's attention away from the pamphlet, and Damien raised an eyebrow. "Jake got his first badge from Hamtero and so am I!"
"But he was like a Pokémon genius." Damien said as he calmly stood to Allen's level. "Don't go under the illusion that you're at his level."
"I'm just as good as him, and I will prove it," Allen yelled. He hated being compared to his brother. Allen had lived in Jake's shadow for all his life. One of the reasons he wanted to be a trainer was to show that he was just as good. On top of that, all this antagonism was coming from his friend. Damn, why was Damien being such a jerk all of a sudden?
"You're gonna to prove it?" Damien said blankly.
"Who's Jake?" Nami asked out of the blue, but her question fell upon deaf ears.
"I challenge you!" Allen said as he pointed at Damien, "In a battle!"
"Sure, you're on!" Damien accepted, clutching his fists.
"Ooh, you guys are going to have a battle!" Nami said in delight. "Let's see what you guys can do!"
Allen and Damien strode over to the river bay, the place where they decided to have the battle. The deposit from the river made the ground moist, soft and muddy, perfect for sand-attacks and water Pokémon. They gave themselves about thirty feet of space between each other. Nami stood off to the side to better view the battle.
"Ready?" Damien taunted
"Always," Allen replied. "Eevee, let's go!" Eevee zapped from his ball. He stood combatively, ready to rumble. The night's rest seemed to have reenergized him back to good health, but Allen was too angry at Damien to notice Eevee's swift recovery.
"Totodile, go," Damien's Pokémon appeared on the scene. Totodile did a little jig, as usually, before suddenly stopping and entering a fighting stance.
"Wahoo!" Nami cheered for no one in practical "Who's gonna win?"
Suddenly, a rush hit Allen. This was only his second battle…but it was Damien's first. Allen tried to claim himself down. There was no way Damien could beat him: Allen was a super pokemanic. Plus, Damien's ambition is to become a coordinator, not a trainer.
However, the rush of battle returned when Allen stared Damien in the face; his expression was that of boundless confidence.
"Totodile, let's start things off with a scratch attack!" Damien instructed. Totodile gleefully charged Eevee.
"Eevee! Counter with—" Allen started, but Eevee dashed toward the approaching Totodile without waiting for instructions.
Right before the two Pokémon collided, Eevee quickly veered to the left, causing Totodile's scratch attack to completely miss the mark. Taking full advantage of Totodile's opening, Eevee launched a powerful tackle attack in the stomach. The blow sent Totodile flying back to Damien's side of the field.
"Quick! Run your tail aground, Totodile!" Damien yelled.
Totodile obeyed. His tail was just the right length to reach the muddy ground beneath him, and it stifled his flight, bringing him safely on his two feet. After a brief victory dance Totodile turned to Damien and gave him the peace sign.
"Nice, Totodile!" Damien encouraged his Pokémon as he returned the peace sign.
"Awesome!" Nami cheered, "Wick recovery, Totodile!"
Eevee stood motionless exactly where he just launched Totodile in the air, a look of disgust on his face.
Allen had to admit to himself: what Damien had Totodile do was impressive…but it would take more than that to beat Eevee.
"Eevee, you're a lot faster than Totodile. Get him with a quick attack." Eevee shoot Allen a look that said 'I know what I'm doing', and then blazed his way to Totodile in a quick attack.
"Watergun, Totodile," Damien ordered. Totodile blasted a torrent of water, but Eevee nimbly dodged by rolling under the attack. Totodile tried another watergun attack, but Eevee easily side stepped it. Now close enough, Eevee made contact with the quick attack and pounded into Totodile's chest with his two forepaws. This caused the big jaw Pokémon to topple over on his back.
"Use your tail!" Damien shouted. Totodile's tail became useful once again. From his downed position, Totodile used his tail to launch a surprise attack, sweeping Eevee off his feet. Totodile quickly jumped to his feet as soon as Eevee hit the ground.
"Scratch him!" Damien told Totodile.
Totodile prepared his claws to attack, but Eevee was too quick yet again. Eevee swiftly interrupted the scratch attack with a powerful kick from his hind legs. The kick spent Totodile soaring straight up, and then came crashing down.
"Great Eevee!" Allen congratulated.
Totodile slowly crawled to his feet. He swayed back and forth for a moment in a daze before snapping back into a fighting stance with a more serious expression on his face this time.
Eevee waited just long enough for Totodile to get back up before charging with another quick attack, closing the distance between the two Pokémon.
"Okay, Totodile!" Damien yelled, "Time to unleash own secret weapon. Eevee may be faster, but not for long! Use scary face!"
Totodile, on command, pulled his mouth open as wide as possible with his hands and stick out his tongue, then crossed his eyes. The sight was utterly bizarre. Allen and Nami gaped in awe, and Eevee stopped in his tracks.
"Quick, Totodile!" Damien ordered, "Bite him before he snaps out of it!"
Totodile stopped the funny face and launched mouth opened wide at Eevee. Eevee still remained motionless.
"Eevee watch out!" Allen tried to warn, but Eevee did not move.
It seemed like Totodile's attack was actually going to hit this time, but something unexpected happened. A large circular object jetted from the sand just in front of Totodile. Totodile tripped over the strange object and fall square on his face. It was at this time that Eevee snapped back to his senses from the scary face affect.
"What is that?" Damien wondered. The circular object rotated in Damien's direction, and two eyes became visible.
"Trap," the sphere blurted, revealing it had a rather large mouth.
"I think it's a Trapinch," said Nami as she reached in her pocket to and pulled out her pokedex.
"Trapinch," the pokedex's robotic voice stated, "The ant pit Pokémon. It lives in sandy deserts. Despite having a big head, it has no problem when moving thanks to its strong legs; however, if it falls on its back, it has difficulties getting back up."
"Wow, in the deserts, huh? That means finding one here is really rare," Nami concluded.
"Trapinch—inch!" the Trapinch roared as it fully emerged from the muddy ground. It looked agitated.
Totodile, who was closest to the wild Pokémon, balled up his fist, ready to fight.
"Damien!" Allen shouted, "Call Totodile back; I call dibs on that Pokémon." Allen turned to face Eevee. "Let's go Ee—"
Allen was shocked to see Eevee coiled up relaxed, taking a quick snooze.
"Wake up, Eevee!" Allen demanded, "We gotta catch that Pokémon!"
Eevee lifted his head to see what all the yelling was about. When he noticed it was just Allen, he laid his head back down to catch some more Z's.
"Ha! Ya snooze, ya lose!" Damien teased. "Totodile, try biting it!"
Totodile opened wide and clumped on to the poor Trapinch's giant head. Trapinch tried to worm free, but Totodile's jaws hold firm. In a desperate attempt to escape, Trapinch used its powerful legs to dig a hole in the muddy sand beneath it. The hole quickly grew, and Trapinch submerged underground. Unfortunately for Trapinch, Totodile did not lose his grip and was dragged in the hole also, out of the trainers' view.
The three trainers rushed over to the hole to see where the two Pokémon disappeared. Eevee remained sleeping a good distance from the excitement, as if nothing interesting was happening.
Damien leaned over the hole, amazed at the depth; it was already about twenty feet deep. He could barely make out Totodile's tail flailing about as he was being dragged deeper into the hole. Suddenly, the muddy tunnel collapsed inward, hiding Totodile and Trapinch under the earth.
"Let go and use watergun to flush it out, Totodile!" Damien yelled down at the ground for Totodile to hear.
There was a brief rumble and suddenly a column of water jetted from the muddy ground, like a geyser. Soon, Trapinch appeared at the top of the geyser and was flung spiraling in the air.
"Here's my chance," Damien said as he revealed a Pokéball from his fanny pack. "Go, Pokéball!" He yelled, tossing the ball.
The ball slammed into Trapinch's big head; the laser zapped and Trapinch vanished inside. The water stopped gushing, and Totodile leaped to the surface from the opening in the ground as the Pokéball dropped to the ground.
"C'mon," Damien hoped, eyeing the wriggling ball. It stopped moving and the red glow on the release button faded away.
"Alright! We caught a Trapinch!" Damien celebrated. Trapinch's Pokéball flew to his hand. Totodile raced to his trainer's side, and they hold hands in a victory dance.
"Congratulations!" Nami cheered.
"Dude!" Allen said to Damien, "I called dibs on that Pokémon!"
"C'mon, it wasn't like Eevee was listening to you," Damien retorted. He pointed to the sleeping Eevee in the distance, and then continued his dance with Totodile.
"Why doesn't your Eevee listen to you?" Nami questioned.
Allen felt suddenly embarrassed. It was true: Eevee did not listen to him at all. He could not think of an explanation for Nami.
"Oh, I know," Nami said, preparing to answer her own question. "Maybe Eevee only fights opponents he thinks worthy. That's why he didn't attack Trapinch when you told him."
Allen thought her theory was valid…but why would Eevee consider Totodile worthy of battling and Trapinch not worth a second glance.
"Whatever," Allen said as he returned the sleeping Eevee to his Pokéball. "We should get moving."
"Yeah, if we want to make it to Hamtero before sundown, we should pick up the speed a little," Nami agreed.
Allen and Nami walked back to the campsite to pack up. Damien and Totodile went on celebrating for a few more minutes before joining the others repacking.
The journey went on just as it had started: Damien and Totodile marched vigorously, taking the lead; Allen trailed behind, a little exhausted from all the walking. The new, refreshing addition to the journey was Nami. She constantly moved between Damien and Allen, talking to them separately. Allen really enjoyed her company. She broke the silence and made the time fly by faster.
"So, this is your first time leaving Kupo, huh?" Nami asked Allen, slowing down to his pace.
"Yeah," Allen answered her, "but I didn't know traveling took so much energy; I'm beat."
"Well, I guess we can take a quick break," Nami suggested.
Allen shook his head. "I can't take a break. I need to find at lest two more Pokémon before reaching—"
"Whoa! Another Pokémon!" Allen and Nami heard Damien shout farther down the trail.
"I got to beat him this time!" Allen said as he and Nami ran to catch up with Damien.
They found Damien sitting on the dirt trail hugging and stroking a small, cute Pokémon. The Pokémon had luxurious reddish-brown fur and six beautiful, curled tails. It seemed to enjoy Damien's attention. Totodile was standing nearby, also admiring the new Pokémon's beauty.
"Kawaii-ne?" Damien mused when he noticed his friends standing over him.
"Ne!" Nami agreed. "Vulpix is a beautifully Pokémon."
Allen raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't mind you embracing it like that?"
"Well, I just spotted it near the bushes and had to cuddle it," Damien explained. He snuggled the Vulpix several more times. "Oh, you're so soft, fuzzy and warm—I gotta catch you!" Damien suddenly jumped up to his feet, and Vulpix roughly hit the ground. "Totodile, attack it!"
Totodile jumped in front of Vulpix, prepared to brawl. Vulpix quivered, confused about the sudden aggression; what happened to the love?
"Vul," it whimpered as it sudden fainted. Everyone gasped, including Totodile.
"Oh no, It fainted," Damien said sadly.
"Now you can't catch it," Allen stated the obvious.
"Why can't Pokéballs catch faint Pokémon?" companied Damien.
Vulpix slowly half opened one eye, revealing itself not to be unconscious.
"Hey! You're faking!" Damien exclaimed when he noticed the opened eye. Vulpix tried to play it off by playing dead again, but its cover was blown. "Beautifully and smart. Totodile watergun attack!"
Totodile used the attack and Vulpix was blasted against a tree.
"Pokéball, go!" Damien chucked a Pokéball at the Vulpix, who was now slump against the tree. The ball zapped its beam, and Vulpix submitted with no struggle, unlike Trapinch.
"Yeah! We caught Vulpix!" Damien and Totodile performed an encore of their victory dance.
"You're on fire, Damien." Nami commented, "Two Pokémon caught in only three hours." She shot a glance at Allen and immediately felt sorry for him. "Don't worry about it Allen. You'll catch some soon."
"It's okay," Allen said, "I know there are stronger Pokémon out here somewhere."
At hearing this, Damien stopped his dance. "Are you saying that Trapinch and Vulpix are weak?"
"Well, you did catch them easily," Allen said.
"I'll show you that they're not weak. How about a three on three match?" Damien challenged. "Oh yeah, you only have one Pokémon," he jeered.
"Hey man," Allen started but claimed himself down. "I will get enough Pokémon before reaching Hamtero—just like Jake did. Let's get going." Allen started walking, leaving the other two trainers behind.
The trainers continued their journey through Kupo forest. This time Allen was leading the group. He walked with much fire burning in his eyes. He had to find more Pokémon to catch in order to beat Mannie at Hamtero gym. Damien, Nami and Totodile silently followed the determined Allen.
"I think you made him a little bit angry," Nami whispered to Damien.
"I'll was just telling it like it was," Damien said, "He needs more Pokémon to battle Mannie; there is no way around it."
Nami placed her hand on her chin, deep in thought. "It's wired; I thought Kupo Forest would have a bunch of Pokémon running around."
"Maybe must of the Pokémon here come out at night," Damien guessed. "But if Allen really wants to battle Mannie, he could borrow some of my Pokémon—"
"I won't need them!" Allen snapped after overhearing the conversation. "There is a good Pokémon around here somewhere I can fe—"
"Hey! An orange tree!" Damien suddenly interjected. Indeed there was an orange tree oddly placed in the middle of the path ahead. "I love oranges!" Damien, followed by Totodile, ran ahead and looked up at the juicy oranges above.
"They do look good," commented Nami.
"I guess I could go for a quick snack," said Allen.
"I'll get some," said Damien. He dropped his heavy backpack, jumped up to grab a low branch and pulled himself up. Once among the branches, Damien reached out and picked a flawless, ripe orange. "This one looks good."
Out of nowhere, an orange jetted from the branches higher up and nailed Damien up side his head. The blow knocked Damien from the tree, and he slammed to the ground. Everyone gasped.
"Who did that?" Damien shouted as he sat up. He was answered by three more oranges thrown from the leaves. The oranges all pelted the defenseless Damien. Totodile protectively rushed over to his trainer's side.
"What is attacking him?" Allen wondered.
"It could be a Pokémon," suggested Nami.
More oranges launched from the tree, heading straight for the two. Totodile quickly blasted some watergun attacks and deflected the fruit projectiles.
"Good job, Totodile," Damien thanked. "Now blast what's ever in that tree!"
Totodile obeyed and blasted a jet of water in the direction of the flying fruit. The water blasted a hole in the blanket of leaves, revealing a green Pokémon. It looked like a gecko with yellow eyes and a pillowed tail. The Pokémon stood with an orange in its hand, poised to throw.
"A Treecko!" Allen shouted.
"It must live in that tree," Nami pointed out, "That's why it attacked Damien."
"I gonna catch it!" The flame returned to Allen's eyes. "Go Eevee!" Eevee zapped out and took a second to check his surroundings. "Eevee attack that Treecko!"
Eevee looked toward Treecko than toward Allen. He tilted his head, as if thinking about it, and then trailed out the path to admire some nearby wild flowers. There was an awkward silence as the trainers, Totodile and Treecko watched Eevee sniff the flowers.
The Treecko suddenly tossed the orange in its hand at Damien, hitting him in the face.
"Oh, no!" Damien exclaimed as he wiped the juice from his face, "You got citrus acid in my eye! It's go time!" Damien grabbed vulpix's Pokéball and released her. Vulpix shook herself off and scratched behind her ear, cutely.
"You're using Vulpix?" Allen asked.
"Fire beats grass type, right?" Damien rechecked.
"Yeah, but—" Allen started
"Good. Now go Vulpix!" Vulpix rushed to the base of the orange tree. She went into a playful fighting stance, still looking ridiculously cute. Treecko leaped down right in front of the cute Pokémon, and then sneered very intimately. Vulpix suddenly became fearful and started to shudder.
"Don't be scared, Vulpix," Damien tried to encourage his Pokémon. "You have a type advantage. Use an ember attack."
Treecko and Vulpix stared down each other for a few seconds with nothing happening, Vulpix shuddering the whole time. Suddenly, Vulpix bluntly fainted. Treecko beat its chest as if king of the jungle.
"Vulpix, you okay?" Damien asked in concerned.
"Oh, poor thing," Nami moped, "She snapped under the pressure."
"I knew Vulpix couldn't handle a battle," Allen commented
"At least my Pokémon listen to me," Damien retorted coolly as he pointed toward the flower gazing Eevee. "Vulpix, we'll work on that. Return!" Totodile leaped up and down excitedly. "No, let's have Trapinch get a shot at it. Go Trapinch!" Trapinch zapped free and chopped the air a few times.
"Oh, c'mon now," Allen started up again. "You didn't even know what a Trapinch was when you caught him; you know none of his attacks."
"I know Trapinch has a big bite," Damien said, smoothly. "Charge, Trapich!"
Trapinch galloped toward Treecko, planning on a bite attack. Sadly, Trapinch tripped over a root from the orange tree and toppled over on his big head, just before reaching Treecko. Try as he might, Trapinch could not get up again. It was just like what the Pokédex said: Trapinch had a tough time getting up after falling. Treecko laughed hectically.
Then the laughter ended. To everyone's surprise Eevee rammed into Treecko in the midst of its laughing fit. Treecko harshly tumbled across the dirt path. Eevee followed up with a sand attack. A cloud of sand surrounded the fallen Treecko.
"Whoa, that is what I'm talking about, Eevee!" Allen cheered on, spirits renewed.
From out of the sand cloud, Treecko leaped at Eevee, its tail poised for a pound attack. Eevee stood his ground and took the attack head on without flinching. Eevee quickly countered with a tail whip attack, but Treecko caught Eevee's tail. Treecko swung Eevee around several times by the tail at an increasing speed.
"Oh my," Nami gasped. She could tell that these two Pokémon were going to battle to the end.
"Eevee, you got to get loose," Allen suggested.
At peak speed, Treecko finally let go and tossed Eevee toward the orange tree. Eevee managed to recover in midair. He jumped off the tree and used the momentum to launch a quick attack. The attack hit Treecko in the face and it stumbled backwards. Eevee executed two tail whip attacks in the face, and then tackled Treecko in the stomach.
"Dang, Eevee is brutal," Damien said.
Eevee continued to bash Treecko with tackle and quick attacks; he was just to fast for the green Pokémon. Finally, Treecko stumbled over the forgotten Trapinch still struggling to get back on his feet.
"Here's my chance." Allen pulled out a Pokéball. "Go, Pokéball!" The ball slammed into Treecko's head and Treecko vanished inside. There was no struggle inside the Pokéball.
"Oh right," Allen celebrated, "I caught Treecko." Allen picked up Treecko's ball triumphantly.
"Yeah, Allen got a Pokémon!" Nami cheered. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Thanks, Nami," Allen thanked.
"Ya know," Damien said as you returned Trapinch to his ball, "Hamtero is just two hours from here. Think you can catch another one before then?"
"You bet I can!" Allen answered. "Can't we Eevee? Eevee?" Allen spotted Eevee coiled up, sleeping yet again.
"Maybe now you have at least one Pokémon that listens to you," Damien mocked.